MANHATTAN, KAN. ? Kansas State coach Jim Wooldridge was full of holiday cheer after his team held off pesky Belmont, 66-62, Thursday night, wishing everybody he saw a happy new year.

But don’t read too much into it. His team’s performance left him far from cheerful.

“It’s a happy new year somewhere in this country,” Wooldridge said. “I’m not saying what I am. I’m just saying it’s a happy new year somewhere.”

Lance Harris scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats (8-2), who jumped to an 11-0 lead but never led by more than 13 points and needed a late stand to hold on. The Bruins, of the Atlantic Sun Conference, continually silenced Kansas State every time it tried to put the game away.

“We did some bizarre things,” Wooldridge said. “That’s the only way you can describe it – bizarre. We miss a point-blank layup, and they go down and score a layup. That’s a four-point turnaround. That’s bizarre.”

Kansas State guard Lance Harris dives for a loose ball against Belmont. The Wildcats won, 66-62, Thursday in Manhattan.

Kansas State led, 54-44, with 7:20 to go, but Belmont’s Andy Wicke and Justin Hare combined for eight points to slice the lead to two. Boomer Herndon’s basket inside with 49.5 seconds left cut Kansas State’s lead to 61-60.

But Dramane Diarra made a pair of free throws after getting fouled on Kansas State’s ensuing possession, and the Wildcats clamped down with a full-court press on the inbounds play. Hare turned the ball over with 10 seconds to go before the Bruins could get off a shot.

Wicke finished with 12 points for Belmont (3-6).

“They really jumped on us and dominated us, and we didn’t execute very well,” Belmont coach Rick Byrd said.

Texas Tech 69,

New Mexico State 63

Las Cruces, N.M. – Guards Jarrius Jackson and Martin Zeno combined for 45 points, and Texas Tech (7-6) used clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch to beat New Mexico State. Tyrone Nelson led New Mexico State (4-7) with 22 points and nine rebounds.

Top 25

No. 7 Washington 91, Arizona State 67

Seattle – Brandon Roy made good on a season-long promise to turn up his game in Pac-10 play, scoring a career-high 35 points to lead Washington (11-0) in the conference opener for both teams. Kevin Kruger had 18 points for Arizona State (6-4).

No. 11 UCLA 71, Stanford 54

Los Angeles – Arron Afflalo scored 18 of his 23 points in the first half, helping UCLA beat Stanford. UCLA (11-1) opened with an 18-1 run, capped by a jumper from Ryan Wright with 14:23 to play. Stanford never got back within single digits. The Cardinal (4-5) missed their first 12 shots from the field and didn’t get their first field goal until nearly nine minutes into the game.

No. 20 Nevada 65, Louisiana-Lafayette 58

Reno, Nev. – Nick Fazekas had 26 points and eight rebounds, helping Nevada overcome poor free-throw shooting. Reserve Marcelus Kemp added 12 points, and point guard Ramon Sessions had 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Wolf Pack (10-1). Nevada led 56-35 with 8:53 left, but made only 14 of 27 free throws and missed seven in the final 1:22 to let the Ragin’ Cajuns back in the game.